KELSEYVILLE— On Wednesday April 13, Kelseyville welcomed a new addition to Main Street, the Bell Haven Flower Store. Located next door to the Saw Shop Public House at 3835 Main Street, the store is open everyday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be fully stocked at all times with fresh cut flowers from their Soda Bay Farm, all harvested within the last 24 hours, a practice Bell Haven takes pride in. Founder Laurie Dohring reflected on the uniqueness of their store’s close proximity to their farm, sharing their catchy and very fitting motto “Locally grown, not flown.”
Dohring and her husband moved to Lake County from Los Angeles after spending their honeymoon here and then continued to vacation here every summer for 40 years. In 2020 Dohring purchased a dilapidated R.V. Park and began the long process of cleaning up and re-building the property into her flower farm vision. 67 garbage dumpsters later, raised beds were built, flowers were planted and Bell Haven Flower Farms was up and running. Last year Bell Haven began to vend at almost all of the County’s Farmer’s Markets and has since then grown their staff to eight full time employees and four permanent greenhouses, allowing them to extend their growing season.
With the anticipation of opening their first store Bell Haven employees were trained in flower design over the winter and are now open to showcase those newly acquired skills in their various flower arrangements. Inside the Bell Haven store are various pre-arranged bouquets, arrangements, and centerpieces available in small, medium, and large sizes. There is also a do-it-yourself bucket containing 100 flowers customer to create their own floral masterpiece. Dohring discussed the art of a bouquet saying “There are four parts to a bouquet, and we grow them all here” allowing them to offer the community the freshest bouquets possible. Custom orders are also welcome and can be made on their website bellhavenflowerfarm.com.
Bell Haven Flower Farms is excited about it’s grand opening, with Dohring sharing “We are truly happy to interact with the community in this way by being a part of all of their celebrations.” They are also participating in the upcoming Big Valley Small Farms Tour on May 7 and will open the flower farm that day for tours. At this event they will have all sorts of flowers and bouquets as well as other Mother’s Day items available. More information on this event can be found on the Bell Haven website and social media.
